Just… what the hell was it that this episode was trying to do? With most rushed endings, you can at least see the creators’ intentions. There are at least some parts that work well. This final episode of Fractale, though… it felt like ten different people were put in charge and they all had different ideas on how to end this thing. Everything this episode tried to do pretty much failed because it has no impact in terms of the big picture. All of it just felt done for the heck of it:
– Phryne’s father’s exposition was just exposition for the heck of it. We should have seen this five episodes earlier.
– Phryne stabbing her father with those “hello I am possessed”-eyes. What was the point of that?
– That blond leader blowing himself up: Where did that come from?
– Granitz’s death was the obligatory death at the final episode. It had no point or purpose and made no impact whatsoever.
– Phryne’s “I decided to sacrifice myself”-speech was interesting, until Clain went “No! I’m the one who will decide over your future!”.
– God being a sixteen year old girl in modern times should not have been introduced this late! Now she just looks like Haruhi fan-fiction.
– The aftermath felt rushed, especially with the way in which everyone was remembering Clain. You really didn’t know him long enough for that…
– That coma has to be the worst written coma I have seen.
The thing is, all of these ideas would have worked if enough time was spent on them. Instead, the creators fail to make any of them work. None of them makes any impact, none of them are detailed. They all feel done for the heck of it. This series definitely did not understand what it means to be a Noitamina-series.
So in the end, my fears at the start of this season were proven partially true: Mari Okada just could not handle three series at the same time. Both Gosick and Fractale contain flaws that she really should have been able to notice, and it’s obvious that most of her attention went to make Hourou Musuko an as good adaptation as possible. With mediocre directors, Gosick and Fractale just couldn’t get themselves someone to really spend effort on making everything work in the big picture. Unfortunately, she’s going to do the same next season: with Gosick continuing for another season, she’ll again be doing three series at the same time with Hana-Saku Iroha and Ano Hana. It’s a shame to see such a talented writer pull a Shinbo.
Rating: — (Lacking)
What kind of society decides to use a sixteen year old girl suffering from a dissociative fugue as the template for their super computer system or whatever…
Then you have to wonder how weird a time Clain is going to have living with Phryne… who either has a split personality now or the mental state of said girl suffering from a dissociative fugue…
I suspect Azuma is just a crap storyteller. If there were details present in the source filtered out by the scriptwriters, then at least the visuals of the adaptation should betray evidence of mechanisms and such. Has anyone bothered to follow the serialization of Azuma’s story? I guess I might have to investigate, just to be sure who to blame.
They had to save the identity and nature of the key for the end, because it’s intended to explain the structure of the world. The society grows from a kind of nucleation from a broken girl, and as a result the society manifests these issues on a larger scale. It makes me think more of The Republic than Haruhi. While Haruhi has magical powers that enable her to alter reality, Phryne’s role is more metaphorical, and the religious corruption of her role as a deity is more likely an artifact of hyperrealism.
There is probably an interesting story in that, but this sure wasn’t it.
I enjoyed fractale, even with its limitations. I really enjoyed the review, as you touched on things I had been thinking the entire series. I think if this were a stronger season, I might have skipped this series, but there are only 2-3 worth watching at the moment.
I was thinking the same thing! 16 year old God = Haruhi. This show puts more questions than it answered. Downfall of this series is that it didn’t explain much and wasted it’s time on some episodes.
UGH! This series is a huge pile of wasted potential! Even after the final episode, we see tons of information that could have been amazing if done correctly. It all felt flat, rushed and just weird. Biggest dissapointment of the season!
What bothered me the most is that the ending justifies the child abbuse in the show. Phryne’s ‘father’ molests her just like the original’s father did so she can be the key to reboot Fractale, and rebooting Fractale is portrayed as the right thing to do. Sorry, but that just leaves a bad taste.
Do u guys think there will be a second season of fractale